


A Dusty Old Qrow

by BlazingStarInInkyBlackness



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Baby Ruby, Canonical Character Death, Dad Qrow, F/M, Family, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Lies, Lies to keep people safe, Love, Theres gotta be a bit of that at least...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-23 20:58:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8342485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlazingStarInInkyBlackness/pseuds/BlazingStarInInkyBlackness
Summary: Qrow fell in love early in life. He fell in love with a woman who kept her face covered and her heart open.Ruby came later, much, much later. Ruby came when he understood the dangers of the world, when he had lost his innocence. Ruby came when he knew he couldn’t protect her. So he let himself become the Uncle, let Tai Yang take the centre stage and ignored how similar the child looked to the woman he had loved so deeply.





	

Qrow had tried. He was sure that if he ever actually got a grave that should be on there. He’d turned up. He’d tried. He’d failed.

Qrow scoffed and shook his head, who was he kidding? Summer hadn’t got a fucking grave. He didn’t deserve one. He’d be left to rot in some wilderness.

“Another.” Qrow croaked out. The bartender frowned before nodding and passing the man a glass. Qrow glared at it for a moment before downing it.

“You might want to-”

“I’m fine.” Qrow snapped back, relishing the burn along his throat. The barkeeper scoffed before moving on to another customer, leaving Qrow glaring at the screen above the bar.

Qrow had tried. He’d tried so hard and he’d tried for so long. But now Ozpin knew. Qrow’s hand itched for his scythe then, itched to grasp it and unleash it fully, just to see the old man’s expression change.

But he didn’t. There’d be no point. No matter what Qrow did, Ozpin won. Well, most of the time.

But Qrow always lost.

 

Qrow had fallen in love in school, fallen in love with quick glances of eyes and a whispered chuckle. But he’d also fallen in love with a woman who killed with a grin, who destroyed anything that stood in her way.

And Qrow hadn’t fallen slowly. It had been almost instant, since the first week he’d been desperately in love with one of his teammates.

Back then he’d been quieter, less brash. He’d drunk a lot less. That probably had a lot to do with the rest of it.

And it had taken her so long to fall for him, it had taken years. He’d watched as she slowly fell in love with him, amid the teasing of his twin. The first time his love had kissed Qrow he was contented, as if he could finally die.

But he didn’t. They fought side by side and lived and they even dared to thrive. As they ran from a Nevermore he clung to her, the silver cape billowing behind them both and they laughed softly.

When they got to safety she leaned forwards once more and kissed him gently.

“I think I love you.” She whispered.

“Good. Cause I know I do.” He whispered back. She just chuckled in response, pressing another soft kiss to his face.

With Summer at his wing Qrow flew high like he never had before. The team succeeded in ways he’d never even dared to imagine. It wasn’t long until they were approached by an old man, with a green handkerchief at his neck. As he spoke Qrow began to feel something shift, as if something big was about to happen.

When he confided in Raven she just rolled her eyes, told him off for judging the man so harshly. But something about the man was wrong to Qrow, something about how deeply he stared into Summer’s eyes.

The first time Qrow understood, truly understood, why the man stared, Summer was screaming. She was screaming for Qrow as a wide eyed red haired Faunus swiped at him with a sword that was too big for him. The next second the Faunus was on his knees, clutching his eyes as if blinded and Summer had fallen to the ground.

Qrow had grabbed her and raced away, not daring to slow until he couldn’t take another step.

Every day she was unconscious he was beside her. He watched as she slowly regained consciousness and when her grey eyes finally opened it was as if he released a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding.

“Qrow?”

“I’m here Summer. I’m always here.” Qrow’s voice was croaky, trying to hold back tears as he stared at his wife in wonder. Not that she was doing anything particularly wondrous, just that she was.

“Tell Ozpin.”

“But-” Qrow started in confusion but Summer overrode him.

“Please.”

Qrow nodded and stood slowly. Summer closed her eyes again and he forced himself out of the room, knowing that if he didn’t do it now then he never would.

Ozpin didn’t sound smug on the scroll, just sounded as if he understood somehow. It made Qrow’s blood boil in anger but he kept it in check, for Summer.

Always for Summer.

 

After that Qrow didn’t get a lot of time with Summer. Ozpin started to give her missions, missions that were apparently too dangerous for Qrow. He was sent to smaller missions, small ones in the middle of towns where he did nothing.

They left the house, the house they had bought to live their lives together in, the same day that Raven began to feel a life growing inside her.

Qrow spent the day his niece was born sparring against a Grimm infested suit of armour, for practice. When he finally strode out of the room Ozpin had just pulled him aside to inform him.

Qrow had then stormed back to his room and paused, taking in the absence of Summer. She was gone, once more, for some hare brained mission of Ozpin’s. Qrow yelled something out, smashing the wall before he calmed himself and strode to the nearest bar.

He stared at the first drink for a long time before downing it. He’d never been a big fan of alcohol, knowing how it could cloud the memories and thoughts all too easily. Then he remembered why he needed to cloud his thoughts.

That night he stumbled back into the empty bedroom, back into the empty bed, barely noticing it. He welcomed his niece into the world with drunken slurs attempting to be loving words to an empty room where no-one would hear him.

When Summer eventually came back Qrow relayed the news and Summer smiled, that wonderful smile that made Qrow feel like he was seventeen all over again.

Summer asked Ozpin for a visit back home and he acquiesced immediately. Qrow got to hold his niece, to wonder down at the purple eyed girl who already looked so much like his sister. This child had none of Qrow’s sharp corners or harsh lines, he didn’t even have most of them yet. This child was perfect and once more Qrow remembered why they went through what they did, to protect Yang and every other innocent like her.

 

After Yang was born Summer began to travel further, for longer.

And Qrow began to drink.

Whenever Summer came back he’d lie, he’d hide. He’d pretend that it never happened, that he was still okay. Summer seemed too tired to call him on his bullshit so they carried on like that.

She’d collapse into their bed and he’d curl into her, praying the alcoholic stench had dissipated enough. But he still felt guilty as he lay next to his wife who was slowly drifting from him no matter how hard he tried to fight against it.

A year and a half after Yang was born Ozpin called for Qrow himself. Qrow extricated himself from Summer, trying his hardest to make sure she could remain asleep. She was beginning to get ill. She was lethargic and had been throwing up in the mornings. Qrow was worried. But she’d promised that she was okay and he had nothing to counter that with.

Qrow walked down the long corridors silently until he finally entered Ozpin’s office. Ozpin turned and smiled.

“Qrow.”

“Oz.” Qrow replied. Ozpin frowned slightly but continued.

“There is a job I need you to take on. It’ll take a while.”

“Will Summer be with me?”

“No. She’ll be busy.” Ozpin’s voice didn’t even hold the slightest bit of apology. Qrow felt anger erupt at that.

“She’s my wife.” Qrow shook his head. “I want to spend time with my damn wife Ozpin!” As Qrow spoke he suddenly realised that was the most he’d ever raised his voice to Ozpin. Qrow was not a man of anger, he was a man of reason. He used to be anyway.

“And you will. But first you must do something to help the world.”

“Can’t I just-” Qrow broke off and shook his head. There wasn’t anything else he could do. There was no way out of this. “Where do you want me to go?”

“Here,” Ozpin gestured to one of the small islands. “The White Fang seems to be rising there. There’s a young man who you’ve met before.”

As Ozpin continued Qrow just nodded. He didn’t have the energy to fight Ozpin anymore.

Qrow walked back to his room and kissed his wife goodbye before leaving her.

She paused for a moment when he left, as if she would run after him but Qrow wasn’t surprised when she didn’t. They each had their roles to play in this world and she deserved a much better co-star than him.

As Summer watched him go she couldn’t help the hand that ghosted over her stomach. She wanted to tell him but Ozpin had given her orders. And Ozpin wanted to make this world better for the next generation so Summer would lie to Qrow, even if it felt like she was ripping her own heart apart.

 

Qrow didn’t come back in time to name his child. That responsibility fell to Tai Yang. Tai Yang, who had no relation to the child.

Ruby Rose, that was the name he’d given the child. He’d argue later that it was because a colour name was thought to protect the child.

But when he said it, all Qrow could think of was red, was crimson, the blood that he’d spilt over the years for Ozpin and the blood red of his own eyes. The blood that Summer’s cape, lost somewhere, must still be stained with.

 

When Qrow heard about his daughter nothing could keep him on a miserable island in the middle of nowhere. He yelled that at Ozpin down a scroll as he paced in the tiny room he was staying in.

He’d been there barely a week and the place already reeked of alcohol. He looked scruffier by the day, he knew that. He didn’t care what he looked like or what he smelt like while he was alone out here but as Qrow walked out of that room he left the alcohol behind, imagining his wife back home with a baby in her arms.

He returned to see Tai Yang holding the baby and Ozpin with more news, more news that make Qrow’s life shatter.

Summer was dead.

Qrow didn’t remember what he did after that.

Ozpin had said something, had talked about a mission, a dangerous mission that had been too soon. He said something about Summer being the only one. Qrow had just stared. He didn’t remember why she died, when she died, what kind of monster she’d fallen to. Later he worried that it had been human in the end, a selfish human who had ripped Summer away from her life, from her child, from Qrow.

He only remembered collapsing into a bed, sobbing into a pillow that still smelled of her, staring at the room that should have been theirs and hearing the screams of their child.

When he next woke the first person he saw was Ozpin.

The man who had taken all of that away.

Qrow had thrown himself towards Ozpin, spitting in anger and rage but had been thrown back. Qrow had sobbed and screamed and Ozpin had just left him.

When Qrow next woke, fully woke, he was glad of that.

Qrow escorted Tai Yang, Yang and Ruby to a small island where they’d be safe, where they wouldn’t be hurt by the people who had hurt Summer, who had killed her.

In the two months Qrow stayed there he saw Ruby’s eyes change slowly from the pale blue of every baby to a silver.

The first day he’d been sure it wasn’t a trick of the light Qrow had stormed out of the house and not returned until he was bleeding from a bar fight and too drunk to tell if it was serious.

Tai Yang had been there to look after him and when his face finally became visible to Qrow he grasped the blond man.

“Don’t tell Ozpin.” Qrow spat out. “No matter what happens. Ruby is- Ruby is your child.” Qrow felt tears slide down his face at that but he ignored it. “Ruby is yo-your and Summer’s. Not- not mine. Okay?” His voice trembled slightly at that and Tai Yang just nodded, confused.

“Why?”

“As long as she’s my child she’s in danger. As long as she- she has silver eyes,” Qrow whimpered gently. “Then she’s a target. Summer didn’t die. Summer was murdered. I was too slow. That won’t- won’t happen again, okay?”

“Okay.” Tai Yang responded quietly.

“Promise me! Promise me that you’ll protect her!” Qrow yelled, not able to control the emotions thrumming through him. The child he’d wanted for so long was in danger and the only way he could protect her was to keep her away from Ozpin. And the only way he could do that was to give her up.

“I promise!”

“Whose daughter is she?” Qrow slurred out, energy vanishing as he began to believe that his child might be safe.

“Mine.” Tai Yang’s words were like poison to Qrow but he pressed on. “Mine and Summer’s.”

“Good.” Qrow struggled to his feet, despite Tai Yang’s protests. He then grabbed his scythe and strode from the room.

“What should I tell her?” Tai Yang called after him. Qrow paused at that. “What should I tell Ruby?”

“Tell her I’m her uncle. Just-” Qrow barked out a laugh. “Uncle Qrow.”

 

Qrow didn’t see much of Ruby after that. Instead he fought. He went where Ozpin wanted him to go and when he didn’t he drank. He drank to forget and he drank to remember.

He drank to remember feeling something other than the emptiness in his chest, anything other than the hollowness.

Qrow didn’t get to see his child grow up, didn’t teach her to stand or walk or even talk. That was Tai Yang’s job.

That was another reason he didn’t return to Ruby a lot. Whenever he did he’d be forced to see his own daughter, who looked achingly like Summer, look to Tai Yang as a father. It even hurt to see Yang, Yang who was just his niece.

But she was the niece whose eyes looked so much like her mother, Qrow’s sister who was still missing. Qrow was still alone. But Ruby was safe. That let Qrow sleep, let him relax for just a few moments. What was left of Summer was safe in Tai Yang’s house, next to a cousin she thought was her sister. Ruby was safe.

Until she wasn’t.

It was a stupid thing. Ruby had been walking home alone, when she shouldn’t have been. Somehow the walls of the city had been breached and the Beowolf had spotted her, all alone.

She’d nearly been killed.

She had been saved from the immediate attack by raising her pistols with shaking arms and giving the Beowolf a face full of lead. Tai Yang had been there the next moment but he’d almost been too late.

So Qrow raced back to her and as he did he thought. He wondered how much Ruby would look like him, how obvious it would look that Tai Yang wasn’t her father.

But when he finally came face to face with her he knew that his lie was complete. She looked nothing like Qrow, nothing like Tai Yang either. She had the face of Summer.

Qrow had to turn away that first time, had to slip a hand down to the flask that hung by his side. But then Ruby spoke, sounded so similar to Summer in the warmth when they’d first met, and Qrow’s hand fell away. He had to be there.

“What the hell kind of trouble did you get yourself into?” Qrow asked, smirking gently. At the sight of him Ruby frowned. She was hunched in on herself ever so slightly, glancing at Yang who was right next to her, as if wondering if she was in trouble.

“Wh-what?” Ruby asked in confusion. “Who are you?” Qrow was, for once, glad when Tai Yang took over his introduction.

“This is your uncle Qrow.”

“Oh, hello!” Ruby smiled up at Qrow, innocence so obvious. She’d never seen violence before that night, had never known the world she’d been born into. She was pure. Qrow was going to make sure she stayed like that.

“Hey.” Qrow croaked out as his own daughter regarded him in confusion. “Do you wanna learn how to fight with that?” He gestured down to the twin pistols lying on the table behind Ruby. Ruby glanced at them for a second in worry before nodding. “Why?”

“I wanna be a Huntress!” Ruby smiled and stared up at Qrow. “I’m not very good but I’ll try!”

“She will.” Yang cut in. Qrow nodded.

“I’ll train ya then.”

Later Qrow would say he didn’t say anything else because of how hard Ruby hit him as she enveloped him in a hug. He’d never admit how much her voice had taken her back to those first few days, when he’d first fallen in love with her mother.

Over the next few months he spent every day with her, training her. He took a job at her fighting school and didn’t say a word to Ozpin, lying through his teeth. He knew that Ozpin suspected something but for some reason Ozpin trusted Qrow.

So for the first time in his life Qrow got to meet his daughter.

 

Ruby was fiery but quiet. There was an anger inside her that Qrow could recognise but it was tempered by her innocence and her innate goodness.

As he trained her Qrow began to feel worried that he’d taint her in some way, disrupt the perfection that was his child. As the days went on and that didn’t happen he let himself relax a little bit more.

The first time Ruby came to ask him about Summer Qrow had said nothing.

The second time he’d managed to choke something else.

She didn’t ask again for a long time.

Sometimes, when he lay awake in a bed that felt too large and too empty, he wished she would ask. He wished he could tell her.

But he kept quiet, teaching Ruby how to handle the twin pistols, identical to the ones that Summer had once wielded.

Ruby wasn’t a good fighter, that was obvious instantly. She had a habit of stopping to regain her balance at the worst times. She was a decent shot but when she got nervous it got worse. The pistols she had were still training ones, capable of a few weak rounds but not dangerous and that was good. Ruby was clumsy, tripping over herself and everything else around her. She never seemed to be in the right place or her body weight was on the wrong foot.

She just wasn’t good at fighting.

She began to flag eventually, when she still got nightmares of that Beowolf and could see no way of protecting herself. She became quiet in their training sessions and would respond slower every time, getting so angry that she couldn’t do it right.

It hurt, in all honesty, to see her like that. Qrow wanted her to not fight, to stay safe but he knew that wasn’t who she was. So he persisted, telling her to take one more shot.

One day, when she’d messed up one too many times to recover from, she’d asked to see how he fought, handing him the pistols. Qrow had chuckled and shook his head, taking out his scythe.

It was as if someone had flicked a light on in her head. She sat bolt upright and stared, open mouthed, as he dismantled the dummy in front of him. It felt good to use his weapon, just fighting with no danger of death. It was so good that he lost himself for a moment and when he came back he saw Ruby staring at him, excitement in her eyes.

That had been the one thing she’d been missing. She’d been trying but she’d begun to give up.

She couldn’t fight, she knew that. She wanted to but her height, her stature, her ability, meant she wouldn’t be able to. But as she watched Qrow hope rekindled in her as she watched the weapon that she knew she could master.

Qrow would never understand how she looked at a scythe twice her size and realised that she could fight.

That day Qrow showed her the scythe, how it could be used as a sword or a scythe, or even a gun. She wanted to learn more instantly but he just chided her gently before showing her just how dangerous it was.

If anything, that made her want to use it even more.

“It’s not a toy, kid,” he still couldn’t bring himself to say her by the name Tai Yang had chosen. Summer had deserved to name her. Not Tai Yang. But Summer had waited for Qrow. “It’s dangerous, see?” As he spoke he let out a blast, shattering one of the training dummies. Ruby watched it explode with wide eyes before turning back to Qrow.

“Can I try?”

Qrow was careful with Ruby, made sure that she wouldn’t be hurt but she was a fast learner, much faster than anyone else Qrow had come across.

The scythe had taken him decades to learn, he’d still only been a student when he’d graduated Beacon. But this child learnt it so quickly, as if she had been made for it.

Every day Qrow could stand to look at her a bit more. Every day a bit of Summer drained away and was replaced with Ruby, the child who was finally meeting her father. Even if she only saw him as an uncle.

 

“How’s she doing?” Tai Yang’s voice broke Qrow out of his thoughts and he looked up in mild confusion. “Ruby, I mean.”

“The kid’s a fast learner.” Qrow leaned back and shrugged. He didn’t talk to Tai Yang a lot anymore, to be fair he normally just talked to Ozpin in his normal life. In this idyllic break he spent as much time as he could with his kid and Yang. He wanted to make sure they wouldn’t forget him again.

“You teaching her how to fight with a scythe?”

“She forced me to.” Qrow chuckled hoarsely. “That kid’s got some soul.”

“Yeah.” Tai Yang smiled. “She does.” Tai Yang then regarded Qrow for a long few moments before Qrow sighed and turned fully to the other man.

“What is it Tai?”

“I couldn’t call her Branwen. You know that right?”

“Yeah.” Qrow turned back and sighed. “I get that.” He didn’t want this conversation. Not now or ever.

“But I didn’t call her Xiao Long. I-”

“I know!” Qrow snapped. Tai Yang paused as Qrow took in a deep breath. “I get that you’re trying. And thanks for that.”

“Is she in danger?”

“We’re all in danger.” Qrow scoffed as he talked and glanced around the room, as if he was trying to figure out where he could run to.

“Is she in more danger?”

“Yeah. She-” Qrow sighed. “She’s special. That’s gonna make some people wanna kill her. I should have trained her younger but-” Qrow shrugged again and scowled off into nothing.

“Are you in danger?”

“What?”

“When you go out there.”

“I can take care of myself Tai.” Qrow chuckled.

“Does anyone have your back out there? Does Raven-” Tai Yang broke off and Qrow softened slightly.

“Raven’s fine. She’s- she’s busy.”

“Will she come back?”

“No. She has things to attend to.” At that Qrow stood to leave the room. As he passed Tai Yang he paused, whatever Qrow felt about him this man had helped his child. This man, who literally wore his heart on his sleeve had done more for Ruby than Qrow had. “Thank you.” He left the rest unsaid, knowing it didn’t need to be said. Hoping it didn’t need to be said anyway.

 

When Ruby came into training one day, face set in something akin to anger Qrow felt worry flash through him, that something could have happened. Did she know? But, of course, that wasn’t what she said.

“I want to make my own scythe.”

“What?” Qrow asked.

“I want my own. Yang has Ember Celia! Everything you said about a weapon being like a person, I- I wanna make my own!”

Qrow regarded her for a long moment before acquiescing.

In that moment he didn’t think about how he’d lost Summer, didn’t think about how fragile life was. He just thought that the girl in front of him deserved a weapon.

Qrow didn’t design the weapon but he could see how similar it was to his own weapon. But Ruby, as always, exceeded his expectations. She added a sniper rifle.

She’d shown the plan to him so nervously, as if he would ever refuse her a thing. Instead he just smiled and nodded, getting the materials as quickly as he could. He didn’t have long left.

Ozpin had begun to ask questions, questions that Qrow didn’t want to answer. He only had a month or two left, if that.

But he managed to see Ruby create her weapon, so achingly similar to his own.

And he managed to see her fourteenth birthday.

She strode into the room smiling and sat down at the breakfast table. Yang immediately tackled her to the ground, Ruby fighting her off. Tai Yang laughed and told them to sit down while Qrow stood slumped against the counter silently.

Yang thrust her present towards Ruby first, then it was Tai Yang’s turn. Qrow watched as she unwrapped the presents, suddenly doubting his own. When Ruby had thanked both of them she turned to Qrow, as if asking.

“Yeah, I got you something kiddo.” Qrow ignored the surprise on Tai Yang’s face at that. But Qrow just pulled a small package that had been hidden in his cloak. “I knew your mom back in the day. Hell of a fighter.” At his words Tai Yang stiffened slightly and Qrow sighed. “She would’ve been proud of you.” He slid the package to Ruby and watched as the girl stared at it. “Open it then.”

Ruby was frozen for a long moment, trying to comprehend the compliment, that the woman she’d never met would be proud of her. When she came back to herself she carefully opened the package. Qrow smiled gently at that, at the care she put into the wrapping that he’d just thrown together.

When she had unwrapped it she just sat for a moment in confusion, staring at it. It just seemed to be a stretch of a sturdy but soft red fabric, with two silver crosses, identical to the one Qrow still wore around his neck.

“What-” She started, before pulling it up. Tai Yang froze as the bottom of the cape tumbled to the floor. Ruby just gasped and grinned up at Qrow. “Thank you!” She shouted, leaping forwards. She wrapped the cloak around her and just like that, Summer was gone.

It was no longer Summer’s replica standing in front of Qrow but Summer’s child. His child. Ruby Rose.

Ruby Rose stood there, with her cape and her scythe and her deadly silver eyes. Qrow had given her two of those things and if he could do anything then he’d remove that third one, give her his red eyes or even the eyes of Tai Yang.

But Qrow didn’t have that power.

As he packed that evening he wished with all his heart he did.

“Uncle Qrow?”

“Kid?” Qrow turned to see Ruby in the doorway. Her red cloak was still around her neck. Qrow smiled at that. Summer only wore the cloak outside or to battle but sometimes, on long days when she just wanted to sleep, she’d collapse in her cape, muttering things until Qrow would take pity on her and take it off to settle her under the blankets.

“Are you… leaving?”

“Yeah. I gotta go.” Qrow sighed. He wanted to stay, he really did. But there were talks of a defector from the White Fang, someone Ozpin needed to know about. Christ, the defector couldn’t even have been much older than Ruby, and here Qrow was, going to track her down like some kind of animal.

“Can’t you stay?”

“No. I- I gotta leave.” Qrow turned fully to Ruby and sank down onto the bed.

“Why don’t you stay around? Dad does.”

“Yeah but he’s got you to worry about.” Qrow smiled weakly at that, ignoring how much Tai Yang’s title had stung. Ruby stared back up at him, as if expecting more. “I’m a Hunter. I’ve got a job to do, kiddo.”

“Mom was a hunter wasn’t she?”

“One of the best.” Qrow’s voice dropped as he spoke and Ruby frowned slightly.

“Dad doesn’t talk about her.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know why. Do you?”

“No.” Qrow shrugged. It was easier to lie then, to lie rather than explain to this child just what had happened to her mother.

“You said you knew her.”

“Yeah.”

“Can you tell me something about her?”

“What do you want to know?”

There was silence for a long moment before Ruby responded.

“How did she die?”

“She went down fighting.” Qrow started, wishing he didn’t have to say this. But his child had asked for it and apparently no-one had told her before. She deserved to know. “She saved a lot of lives in the process.”

“Were you there?”

“No. I- I wasn’t.”

“If you’d been there,” Ruby paused. “Would she be alive?” Qrow looked down at Ruby at that, staring in her wide silver eyes.

“I don’t know kid.” Qrow’s voice broke slightly and he coughed, glancing away. “Maybe. She was a better fighter than I ever was though.”

“If you leave, are you gonna die?” Ruby asked quietly. Qrow shook his head immediately. “I don’t want you to die.”

“Don’t worry kiddo. I’m too tough to kill.” He wasn’t. He knew that no-one was. Maybe he’d end up dead next week, maybe he’d live into old age. All he knew was that from that moment on he’d try. Because his child was gazing up at him, asking him not to die.

When morning came Qrow woke to find that Ruby had fallen asleep on top of him. He slowly extricated himself from her and stood. He went to take off the cape before pausing and just pulling the covers around her instead.

“Bye kiddo.” He managed to rasp out before leaving his child sleeping soundly.

 

After that there were less and less chances to see her. First there was the protection of the maidens. Then there was the defector to track down, a girl who wanted nothing more than to live a free life. Then something sinister started to rise and before Qrow knew it, Ruby was fifteen.

He raced back to the house to celebrate and he saw her smiling and laughing, so happy. He let himself be pulled into the middle of it and didn’t even notice when his flask was taken away by a scowling Tai Yang.

That evening Ruby plied him with questions again and Qrow answered. But every answer seemed to only breed more questions and eventually he gave up, letting her ramble on.

“Are you asleep?” Ruby teased. Qrow snapped his head up and shook it.

“Giving my eyes a rest.” Ruby laughed at that.

“You were asleep!”

“How’s school, kid?” Qrow replied, not wanting to tell Ruby why he was so exhausted, about the nightmares that haunted his nights.

“It’s alright.” Ruby shrugged and fell back, the smile gone.

“What’s wrong?”

“Yang’s leaving next month. She’s going to Beacon. I wanna go there too.” Ruby sounded so heartbroken that Qrow felt a twinge of guilt. If he put in one good word then Ruby would be there, would be training in the same place he had trained. In the same place Summer had trained.

“Another two years and you can be there too.” Qrow knew he wouldn’t be able to protect Ruby forever, even if he wanted to. He had to trust her. And Ozpin.

Somehow he found it easier to trust the barely fifteen year old girl than the seemingly ageless man who had such power over his life. Ozpin seemed to mean well but there was something off about the man that Qrow just couldn’t trust, no matter how much he tried to see whatever Summer had once seen in him.

 

When Qrow left that night he felt a terrible sense of foreboding, as if he wouldn’t come back there any time soon.

Not before something big happened.

 

For Qrow the next few months passed in a weird mix of fear and boredom. He was hot on the trail of a possible ringleader but they were leading him on a merry chase. When he finally worked out that something was up he contacted Ozpin.

**Queen has pawns.**

He then returned to that small cabin where he expected his daughter to be.

It was empty. Not even the family mutt was there.

Qrow had panicked for a long few moments before he found a note that Tai Yang had left, assuring a neighbour that he was simply out on a quick hunting trip. It was nothing.

And both the children were safely in school.

 

That was how Qrow found himself, nearly blackout drunk, in a bar. The screen reported how well the Vytal festival was going but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He hadn’t even managed to see Beacon’s turrets before he’d crashed into this bar, ordering the strongest drinks he could see.

Qrow didn’t want to care but he knew that something was going on, something was happening that he didn’t want to see. And Ozpin had put Ruby here, in danger. Qrow wanted to scream but all he did was order yet another glass.

The fight with Winter was more about blowing off steam than anything else. But then she’d got pissed off. Then she’d run at him with her sword in front of her. He spotted Ironwood, of course he did. So he dropped his guard, welcomed the attack and tried to push down the irrational upset when she paused, the blade at his throat.

But then Ruby had been there, she’d run up to him and grabbed his arm and he’d smiled, relaxed for what seemed like the first time in centuries. He didn’t even care as he was pulled up to Ozpin’s office or as they argued.

His child was safe.

Then he was left alone with Ozpin. The man didn’t even talk to him for a long moment, just staring at him. When he did finally talk Qrow wished that he wouldn’t, that the man had never spoken to him or Summer, wished that none of this had happened.

“What were you thinking Qrow?”

“When?” Qrow sniped back, any sense of good mood quickly vanishing.

“Why didn’t you tell me Ruby had silver eyes?” Qrow bristled at those words. He knew that he’d find out but it still felt wrong for him to know.

“What would be the point?”

“I could have protected her.”

“You didn’t protect Summer!” Qrow yelled, suddenly angry. “You promised me that you would and you let her die!”

“Ruby is not Summer!” Ozpin countered, raising his voice as well.

“No she’s not because I made sure she wasn’t!” Qrow shouted. Ozpin frowned at that but Qrow barrelled on. “I taught her to fight! I taught her to protect herself! I taught her how to use that scythe and how to make it! I taught her how to expect the worst and she is still so- she still believes the good in people despite all the shit she’s been through! She is not Summer but-”

“She doesn’t know, does she?” Ozpin asked quietly.

“What?” Qrow asked, caught between confusion and anger.

“She doesn’t know that she’s your daughter.” Ozpin stated it, rather than asked it and Qrow couldn’t even be bother to refute the claim. “Who does?”

“Tai Yang. You. Me. Maybe Raven. I know a lot of people didn’t believe that Tai Yang would move on that quickly but they didn’t see any reason why I would be the father.” Qrow felt the fight drain out of him and all but collapsed against one of the pillars, suddenly feeling ancient.

“Why didn’t you tell her?”

“I thought that I could give her a normal childhood. I thought- If she had a father she could be happy.”

“She is.” Qrow scoffed at that and nodded. Of course she was happy. She was happy without the worthless husk Qrow had turned into without Summer. “But you’re not.”

“I don’t have time for psychoanalysis right now Ozpin. I have a job to do.”

“No you don’t.”

“What?” Qrow asked in confusion. “I need to-”

“No. You need to look after your daughter. You need to tell her.”

“What good would it do her now?”

“It would do _you_ a lot of good.”

At that Qrow began to laugh.

“Nothing can save me now Ozpin. I’ve dedicated my life to _your_ cause. My wife lost her wife to _your_ cause. You had better believe that it was worth _something_.” Qrow snarled out the words, so full of venom.

“I do.” Ozpin replied immediately. _But maybe_ , he added in his head as he stared at the wreck of a once happy man, _maybe not enough_.

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently my brain decided that this, one day before a new volume, was the perfect time to plan out so many stories. I have another three at least half written but as soon as Vol 4 airs they're going to be wrong so I dunno if I'll post them or just let them stay on my computer. (The other ones I have written are a Trans Ren fic, a Neo centric speaking disorder fic, a non AU grieving fic and a Weiss centric ED fic. All nice and happy of course.)  
> Also, I don't think that Ozpin is evil. I think that he looks on a much broader scale than he should and he doesn't necessarily know when to step in. Not evil, just flawed.  
> See you next time!


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